Boulder will pay for cars towed from Hill, Whittier work zones during spring break

Residents say they didn't get notification before leaving town

A no parking sign is seen along the 600 block of University Avenue in Boulder on Friday afternoon. The city towed cars to enable workers to repaint lane lines, but will now void tickets and refund towing fees over concerns that not enough notice was given to residents during spring break. (Paul Aiken / Daily Camera)

If your car was towed

Painting and striping work was scheduled for Thursday on University Avenue from Broadway to Sixth Street and on Spruce Street from 15th Street to Folsom Street.

Boulder will void the tickets and pay the impound fees for cars that were towed from the work area.

Marv's Quality Towing is located at 4790 Pearl St., 303-444-4460. The lot is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People whose cars were towed from the work area can get their cars at no cost at any time this weekend.

Boulder Public Works will reimburse people who already paid to have their cars released. Those people should call 303-441-3266 starting Monday morning, when the city expects to have a complete list of license plates of affected vehicles.

Boulder will void parking tickets and pay the towing and impound fees for roughly 60 cars that were towed from the University Hill and Whittier neighborhoods this week.

The city had planned a painting and striping job on University Avenue, from Broadway to Sixth Street, and on Spruce Street, from 15th to Folsom streets, for the week of the University of Colorado's spring break to minimize the impact.

Per city regulations, signs warning that no parking would be allowed on Thursday went up on Monday. Such signs have to be posted 72 hours in advance.

However, many students living in those areas already had left for spring break, and workers found the streets full of cars. City staff went door to door trying to warn residents to move their cars, then called in tow trucks.

CU student Grant Wells was one of those whose vehicle was towed from University Avenue. He didn't leave town until Tuesday, but he said he never saw a "no parking" sign. When he returned Thursday, his car was gone.

He said many of his friends and neighbors are out of town for longer periods of time and would have incurred additional daily impound fees.

Marv's Quality Towing, which removed the cars for the city, charges $110 for towing, plus $20 a day in impound fees.

"I understand they probably wanted to do it on spring break so there would be less of a parking dilemma when school is in, but they should have made more of an effort to talk to people ahead of time," Wells said Friday.

Boulder public works spokesman Michael Banuelos said the city completely agrees.

"We apologize, and we're doing everything we can to make this right," he said.

Boulder officials have asked Marv's to send all the invoices for the cars towed for this particular project directly to the city.

Those who had vehicles towed for this striping project can collect their cars at any time from the Marv's lot at 4790 Pearl St. People who already have retrieved their cars can call public works at 303-441-3266 on Monday for reimbursement.

Banuelos said the city should have a complete list of the affected cars by license plate on Monday.

Boulder officials won't know the total cost until all the invoices are received, Banuelos said. But based on the number of cars and the base towing fee, the cost to the city is likely to be more than $6,000.

Banuelos said city code does not allow cars to be parked in the same spot on the street for more than 72 hours, so the cars that were towed may have been in violation regardless of the lack of prior notification.

However, that ordinance is largely enforced on a complaint basis to identify abandoned vehicles, and the city will void all parking tickets issued in the work areas on Thursday.

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